She Will Always Be A Broken Girl
by Linkin41
Summary: Annie smiled as she admired her new dress, posing in front of her mirror. It fit her like a glove. Songfic, oneshot.


A/N: This is my first foray into Community fics...sort of. I'm still working on a Community Crossover, but this one shot wouldn't get out of my head. I do not own Community or the song it's based upon, She Will Always Be A Broken Girl by She Wants Revenge.

_**She buys a new dress for the party**_

_**She always looks good in red.**_

_**Turns around in front of the mirror**_

_**And disappears inside of her head.**_

Annie smiled as she admired her new dress, posing in front of her mirror. It was was a vintage, halter style dress. Crimson satin with white polka dots. It fit her like a glove. Annie picked up her invitation from her bed, checking to make sure when the party started. She reconnected with an old(and only) friend from high school, Stacy, during the summer and three weeks later, an invitation appeared in the mail. Annie hesitantly RSVP'd, knowing Stacy would invite others who used to attend their high school. Peers she didn't want to face again, but she decided to go for Stacy's sake.

_Who knows_, Annie thought, still looking at her dress, _Maybe they won't know it's me._

She had lost weight, she no longer had acne, she was also no longer taking Adderall. She was completely different from the Annie they knew back then.

_**She wonders if he'll even remember, **_

_**She asked him in a casual way. **_

_**Just incase he didn't want to go with her, **_

_**In that event she knew just what she would say.**_

Two days prior, she found out that Troy had declined the invite.

"_Abed and I are having our kung-fu movie marathon that night," _Troy told her over the phone,_ "Pierce gave us permission to use his home theatre! He never lets us use his theatre!"_

Annie didn't want to attend this party alone. Not when she heard that her former enemy was invited. She went through her contacts, finding Jeff's name and hitting dial.

"_Hey,"_ Jeff said, sounding bored.

"Hey Jeff," Annie said brightly, "Are you doing anything on Saturday?"

"_Why?"_

"Well," Annie said, "I got invited to this party by this friend from high school. Troy did too, but he's not going because he and Abed are doing a movie night at Pierce's mansion."

"_And you didn't want to go alone,"_ Jeff asked.

"I just...wanted someone to go with," Annie said, not wanting to tell Jeff the real reason, "So, do you want to go?"

"_Let me get this straight,"_ Jeff said, _"you're inviting me to a high school party?"_

Annie rolled her eyes, "It's not a high school party."

"_Seems that way."_

"Do you want to go or not," Annie needed a straight answer.

"_Hmm...I'll get back to you."_

"Fine," Annie said, hanging up.

She texted Jeff the info before going out the door, on her way to the mall to find a dress.

_**She thought of maybe asking a girlfriend, **_

_**Even though she only has one or two. **_

_**She's always done much better with boys anyway, **_

_**So who needs girlfriends?**_

When Jeff hadn't gotten back to her, she considered asking Shirley or Britta. Well, only Britta. Shirley just had a baby and Annie knew she wanted to spend time with baby Ben and Andre.

After several texts went unanswered, Annie called Britta only to be met with a voicemail message.

"_If you're listening to this message, then I'm roughing it Costa Rica and becoming a local. Leave a message and I'll call you back in...August? Maybe. Possibly. If I don't get arrested while I'm there."_

Annie sighed and flopped onto her bed. The party was tomorrow and she had no one to go with. She almost thought about inviting Pierce, but she knew that would be a disaster waiting to happen.

_**Pacing nervous across the floor of her bedroom, **_

_**Gripping tight the phone in her hand. **_

_**Fighting back the rush of emotions, **_

_**And dreaming of just having a man.**_

Annie had to be at Stacy's in two hours and she still hadn't heard back from Jeff. She was close to calling Stacy and telling her she fell ill and couldn't go, but she was going to wait for any sort of response from Jeff before she would cop out.

_**She struggles with an awful decision, **_

_**Stay at home or walk in alone. **_

_**Her mother does her best to console her, **_

_**Her father doesn't know what to say.**_

"_Sweetie, I'm sure everything will be fine,"_ Shirley said, _"but if Jeff doesn't call I will tear him new one."_

Annie called Shirley when she only had an hour before she had to leave for Stacy's and still didn't have any response from Jeff.

"I just don't know if I can go and do this by myself," Annie said, distressed.

"_You just have to march into that party and show everyone that you're not that weak little girl anymore," _Shirley said, _"You're a strong woman, Annie. You can do this."_

Shirley was right. She didn't need Jeff or Troy or Britta or anyone to stick up for her! She was a strong, independent woman and she was going to prove it.

"You're right, thanks Shirley," Annie said, her voice regaining its pep, "I need to go now. Stacy lives across town. I'll call you later."

"_You're welcome, sweetie. Have fun," _Shirley said before hanging up.

Annie slipped her phone back into her clutch before grabbing a navy cardigan out of the closet. Slipping her feet into white, peep-toe heels, she ran out the door and avoided her landlord's stare.

_**Puts on her makeup, puts on the new dress.**_

_**Holds her head high, then gets in the car.**_

_**Tells herself that no one will notice, **_

_**Assuming she can make it that far.**_

Her new found confidence was slipping away the closer she got to Stacy's place. Annie couldn't turn back now, she was half way there. She wished Jeff wasn't a stupid douche and got back to her. Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel and kept her course.

_**On the way she imagines reactions,**_

_**Cupped hands whispering into ears.**_

"_Oh my god, is that Little Annie Adderall?"_

"_I can't believe she showed!"_

"_She still looks like a dork."_

"_I wonder if she's still a pill popper?"_

"_She showed up alone? What a loser!"_

Annie swatted those thoughts away, not wanting to have a meltdown while going through an intersection. The last thing she needs to do is get into a horrible accident when she's flat broke. That damn dress cost her a pretty penny.

_**Secretly hoping that he'll be there watching, **_

_**And she's also hoping he won't.**_

Annie optimistically imagined that Jeff hadn't gotten back to her because he was already there waiting for her. Realistically, she knew Jeff wouldn't do things like that. Besides, if she wanted to prove that she can hold her own, having Jeff there wouldn't accomplish anything. She didn't need him. Right?

Annie turned down Stacy's street, following the faint drum beats until she found its source. Luckily, there was a spot across the street open for parking. Annie sat in the car for a few moments before stepping out and walking warily toward Stacy's house.

_**Walking tentative alone up the driveway, **_

_**Sees some people smoking off to the side.**_

_**She stops and waits until they go back in, **_

_**Crosses her fingers and follows behind.**_

_**It's a long walk, and the music is loud.**_

_**She sees an old friend,**_

_**As she walks through the crowd. **_

_**Puts on her best smile,**_

_**But underneath she's a broken girl. **_

_**But It's a long walk, and the music is loud.**_

_**She sees an old friend,**_

_**As she walks through the crowd. **_

_**Puts on her best smile,**_

_**But she will always be a broken girl.**_

The house was packed with people and the hip-hop/pop/dance music playing inside threatened to shake the walls down. Annie felt relieved when no one noticed her walk in.

"Annie!"

The feeling was short lived though when Stacy shouted her name. Thankfully the music was loud enough that only one or two people looked around before shrugging.

"Hey Stacy," Annie said, giving her a friendly hug.

Stacy gave her the once over when she pulled herself out of Annie's embrace, "You look terrific! That dress is adorable!"

"Thanks," Annie grinned, "you don't look bad yourself!"

Stacy laughed, pointing over to the next room, "Refreshments are on the table in there. Help yourself!"

Annie watched as Stacy twirled away and greeted the next party guest at the door. Her grip tightened on her clutch as she wove her way through people to get to the adjoining room. When she laid her eyes on the refreshments table, she realized that Stacy meant 'every bottle of liquor you can think of is on this table with some orange juice and club soda.' Annie sighed and filled her red cup with orange juice, since she was driving.

Annie decided to walk around the house, finding several of her former classmates along the way. She was surprised when no one said a word to her as she passed by, then again they were probably too busy making out with each other to notice her. When she stopped walking, she found herself in the backyard and spotted the empty porch swing. She took a seat and sipped her orange juice.

This wasn't what she expected when she arrived. Annie was sure that they were either:

Going to pick on her

or…

Well, she actually expected to be picked on again. Here she was though, bored out of her mind and alone.

_**He'll never get you, **_

_**He will never understand.**_

_**He'll never get you, you can find a better man**_

He wasn't missing much, but at least she wouldn't be so bored if Jeff had shown up. She shouldn't have even bothered asking him at all. Annie made a little mental note to call Shirley when she got home later.

She stood and made her way back to the house, hoping Abed and Troy wouldn't mind if she joined them. Annie stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her old enemy standing before her.

"Annie Edison," her enemy said with a mischievious smirk.

"Abby Peterson," Annie responded, trying to compose herself, "nice to see you again."

"Really? I couldn't say the same for you," Abby replied coldly, "Are you going to do a repeat performance of your little freak out tonight?"

Annie glared at her, silently seething.

"I see that rehab did you some good," Abby said snidely, "I'm sure your mother must be proud. Oh wait, she doesn't even want anything to do with you in the first place."

"How do you know that," Annie exclaimed.

"Stacy has been filling me in on everything," Abby said, "every single detail."

Annie's eyes widened in surprise.

"What? Did you think she really wanted to be friends with you again," Abby said, grinning, "well Little Annie Adderall, you have been duped."

Annie gasped when Stacy went to Abby's side, their former classmates behind them.

"This was a trap," Annie exclaimed, "you planned this whole thing just to humiliate me?"

_**This might be the time to break down.**_

"Little Annie Adderall," the party chanted menacingly, moving toward her, "Little Annie Adderall."

Annie began backing way, searching for a way to escape the advancing crowd. Hearing her horrible nickname being chanted started bringing back memories of the day she ODed and ran through the window. No one helped her as she lay on the ground. No one comforted her as the blood started staining on the concrete.

Lost in her own memories, she didn't notice that they had backed her up to the porch swing. Annie ended up knocking against it and losing her balance, falling to the ground and having the swing nail her side. The only laughed as tears started to fall from her eyes.

Suddenly, she was picked up and put back on her feet before being pushed through the crowd. It wasn't until she was out in front of the house that she looked up to see who her knight in shining armor was.

"What the hell kind of party was that," Jeff exclaimed, still keeping her close to him.

Annie was rendered speechless as she stared up at Jeff, not believing that he rescued her from her own personal hell.

He sighed, "I'm sorry I never got back to you. Chang literally blew up my phone after making some home made fireworks. Are you alright? Please say something."

"Get me out of here," Annie said, glancing back at the door.

Jeff lead Annie over to his Lexus, getting her into the passenger seat before running around and hopping into the driver's seat.

"What about my car," Annie asked.

"We'll get it tomorrow," Jeff said, driving off quickly, "you're staying at my place tonight, it's closer than your place."

"Isn't Chang still staying there," Annie questioned.

"I threw him out when his fireworks blew up everything else in my bedroom," Jeff said.

Annie only nodded, staying silent the rest of the drive.

_**Hush child don't make a sound.**_


End file.
